Killing of Abra lawyer enabled by impunity —group

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) on Friday slammed the killing of a lawyer in Abra, saying the act was enabled by impunity.

“Whatever the motive and whoever are the assailants and masterminds, this merciless murder of a young, principled, and idealistic lawyer is enabled by impunity,” IADL transitional president Edre Olalia said in a statement.

Olalia further said this was “engendered by passive, token, and ningas cogon responses from State authorities.”

On Thursday afternoon, Maria Saniata Alzate was killed by two men riding in tandem inside a car parked outside her home.

She died after she was rushed to the hospital.

“That it happened again against those who push the tide against injustice speaks volumes on the incompetence, negligence, and even complicity of governmental institutions ironically overpopulated by her fellow lawyers,” Olalia said.

“The international legal community has never seen such cold-blooded murders occurring with such frequency and impunity as in other countries where lawyers are also under attack,” he later added.

The Abra Provincial Police Office is conducting an investigation to identify the perpetrators and motive behind the shooting.—AOL, GMA Integrated News